


What Happens Under the Full Moon, Stays Under the Full Moon

by AllDaveKat, carnivorousBelvedere



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Bro is kind of a dick but not abusive, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Monster Hunters, Murder Mystery, Period-Typical Homophobia, Slow Burn, Strider Brothers, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27288298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllDaveKat/pseuds/AllDaveKat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/carnivorousBelvedere/pseuds/carnivorousBelvedere
Summary: Dave and Bro are hired to investigate a string of recent werewolf attacks in a mysterious small town.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	What Happens Under the Full Moon, Stays Under the Full Moon

The sun is just beginning to set when they pull into town, orange and red staining the sky above the dark silhouetted treetops.

There doesn’t seem to be much to look at, just a few empty streets and scattered buildings in the middle of assfuck nowheresville surrounded by forests on all sides. It’s not as if Dave’s here on a fucking vacation, though. As long as he’s got cable TV and hot running water he really doesn’t give two shits how lame the town is.

Being on the road between jobs is always the same. Listening to Bro’s pickup rattle dangerously as it pushes 90 on the seemingly endless highway, wondering if it’ll hold together for another thousand miles. Playing passenger seat DJ and swapping out one tape for another as the hours crawl by. Stopping twice a day for greasy fast food, and crashing in some shitty motel room if Bro’s feeling like they can afford to splurge, or spending the night in the truck if he’s not.

Lately they’ve been spending a lot of nights in the truck.

In fact, part of the reason they agreed to this job, even though it doesn’t pay that well, was the fact that their client happens to own a bed and breakfast in town and is therefore able to offer them free room and board for the entire duration of the job. Halle-fuckin’-lujah. Dave is more than ready to scrub off three-plus days worth of grease and grime, and sleep in a real bed for several days at a time. Maybe even _weeks_ , depending on how long this thing takes.

Dave doesn’t actually know how long they’re going to be here, and he knows better than to bother asking, because Bro never tells him anything about a job except for whatever he explicitly needs to know. Dave’s not sure if it’s some kind of weird power trip, or maybe just Bro’s strange way of being protective, but he’s always kept Dave an arm’s length away from the business end of their business. It’s a point of annoyance for Dave, after all he’s been a legal adult for several years now and it sucks to still be treated like a little kid, but Bro doesn’t change his mind on anything unless he wants to. He insists on handling the clients, the money, the weapons, the plans... pretty much fucking everything, except for the research.

That’s where Dave comes in.

He’s trained to fight too, of course, he can jump in and do his part as needed, but his main job is to find things out. Talk to the people around town, snoop through old libraries and city hall records, figure out what’s really going on, because in their line of work there’s almost always something that the client isn’t telling them. And people tend to drop their guard around Dave a lot quicker than they will for Bro.

Dave thinks it’s because of his naturally charming personality. Bro thinks it’s because people would rather spill their darkest secrets than continue to watch Dave embarrass himself by sticking his foot in his mouth at every opportunity. Dave argues that it basically amounts to the same thing.

In any case, it’s the one thing he’s any good at, so it’s what he gets to do. He doesn’t mind it, honestly. Getting to know all the gossip of each new place keeps things entertaining, gives him a way to keep his memories of all the towns and cities from blurring together.

Bro pulls up in front of a wooden lodge where a sign out front reads: “ALTERN BED & BREAKFAST.” A smaller sign below it says “VACANCY.”

Dave climbs out of the car, grateful to be able to stretch his legs after so long. Bro grabs both of their duffel bags and tosses one at Dave, who fumbles and drops it. Bro smirks and Dave flips him off, then picks up the bag and follows him into the lodge.

A tall, pale woman sits at the front desk. She sees them walk in and sets down her book, giving them a warm smile and greeting. Dave half-listens while she introduces herself as the B&B owner and thanks them for agreeing to the job, says she's so grateful for their help. Bro just nods coolly. The lady briefly goes over the house rules and meal times and hands them each a pair of keys.

“Karkat here will show you to your rooms,” she says as a guy who looks about Dave’s age walks over, his footsteps heavy and loud. He’s a little taller than Dave, with a stocky build, dark furrowed eyebrows, and a hilariously grumpy expression. “He works here as well, so feel free to ask either him or me if you need any assistance during your stay.”

“Hey, Kar-kat,” Dave says, over-pronouncing the unusual name. “Mind pointing us toward our new crib? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to stick around here and chat, get to know the people, but first I need to scrub like a thousand layers of stank off my body fuckin’ yesterday. Seriously, don’t get too close to me, dude, it’s a goddamn biohazard up in here.” He sniffs at himself and wrinkles his nose.

-

 **TWO WEEKS AGO** ********

Moonlight falls through towering pines to land in small patches on the forest floor, somewhere on the outskirts of the isolated mountain town of Altern, Washington.

A small coalition of citizens under the direction of the Deputy Sheriff Reed Lassen, not one of them acting with the knowledge of the commanding Sheriff, are searching the forest for the body of Lydia Maren, who went missing during the full moon that ended just a few days ago. They rove the forest with bright flashlights, searching for a sign of her… or what might be responsible for what happened to her.

A voice calls out through the trees.

“I found her! Reed, Reed, I found her! Oh, _Christ_ \--”

The Deputy Sheriff takes off through the trees towards the voice.

He stops still as he finds the man calling for him, stopping at the edge of a divot in the forest path that leads into a small valley.

The man shines his flashlight down with a shaking hand at the mangled, bloody body at the bottom.

“Dammit, not again,” the deputy sheriff sighs. He wipes the back of his hand across his forehead and looks at the man next to him. “We gotta call Kan.”

“She’s not gonna like this,” the man responds.

“No, and neither will that boy of hers, but we can’t keep losing them like this. I just can’t have this town attracting any attention.”

Karkat Vantas stands with his back leaning across the wall, arms crossed with a scowl on his face as he watches the proceedings of the secret town hall meeting unfold.

Half of the room keeps sending him shifty, upset glances, the other few pitying, others fear.

This isn’t how the twenty-five year old saw where his life would be. Given, when you’re an adopted werewolf, a lot of your future ends up being uncertain anyways.

Karkat closes his eyes, leans his head back against the wall, and tries to ignore the meeting about him that he cannot participate in. It kind of would have been hard for him to ignore it in any fashion, considering it’s happening in his literal home that is the town bed and breakfast.

“Reed, Karkat and I have lived _peacefully_ here in Altern for many years,” he hears Kanaya say at the front of the room. “We have never had a problem servicing any visitor to this town. You know that it is with _our help_ that we’ve been able to help keep the truth of this city secret and safe.”

“Listen, Kanaya, I know that, don’t think I don’t know that, but the fact is that the people who live here are getting picked off one by one every full moon, and we all know to let your boy have his run around in the forest when it comes and leave him alone. It’s a bit suspicious.”

“Karkat would never hurt anyone!” Karkat hears one of his friends yell. A chorus of voices rise up in support. Karkat finds himself smiling a little, just a bit on the corner of his lips.

The room stirs up with voices for a minute and Reed bangs a gavel on a table at the front to call order.

Kanaya sighs. “Reed, if you want me to lock him up, I am simply not going to do that.” Karkat shudders at the thought. They’d been over this before, back when the attacks first started. “Let me make you a deal. I will hire some monster hunters to find your beast to prove _that is not my son_ , we will host them, but in turn, the people here must do their best to keep the secret.”

“We all have a hand in this,” Reed answers. “But fine. I’ll accept those terms, but should they prove unsuccessful, your boy will start finding his full moon romps in a cell down at the station. Understood?”

**PRESENT DAY**

This….. This is one of the registered monster hunters Kanaya hired? Karkat glances over at Kanaya with an aggravated expression and then turns back to him.

He stares at him for a long moment, nose wrinkling in disgust because this guy looks like he’ll be the monster’s next victim as opposed to the guy taking it out for good. It’s not because the guy doesn’t smell bad, nothing really smells bad to Karkat’s unnaturally strong sense of smell, it’s just… different. Karkat thinks he actually doesn’t smell that bad at all.

“I will _gladly_ show you to your rooms,” he grumbles without a hint of that customer service smile Kanaya always encourages him to have. He’s going to show them to their rooms and then find her again to have a _long talk_.

Karkat is supposed to offer to take their bags, but he’s too pissed off.

If only his full moons didn’t make him black out every time, they wouldn’t even be in this situation because Karkat probably would have caught the fucker by now!

Now he’s got to put up with two monster hunters and not tip off to them that they are currently staying in a literal den of monsters. Okay, ‘monsters’ is maybe a little excessive, when there’s Kanaya who’s a witch and other people like that.

He turns his body mechanically towards the hallway where the rooms are and starts stomping off in that direction, not bothering to look over his shoulder at whether the newcomers are following.

-

Damn, Dave must smell even worse than he thought based on Karkat's disgusted expression. He doesn't have much time to worry about it, though, because Karkat's quickly stomping away and Dave has to hurry after him.

He glances back in time to see Bro tipping his baseball cap at the owner lady like a fucking tool, and stifles a smirk because seriously? They haven't even been on the job five minutes and Bro's already thirsting over the only chick they've met so far. Fucking typical.

He rolls his eyes and jogs a little to catch up with Karkat, coming up alongside him. The dude's still wearing his grumpy expression, but Dave finds it more entertaining than actually offputting. Aight, time to put the Strider charm into action.

"Sooo, Karkat, right? Didn't get a chance to introduce myself back there, but I'm Dave and that other dude is Bro. Rad, so now that we know each other's names and we're basically airtight homies for life, tell me: is there anything to do around here that doesn't totally suck lame balls? Because I gotta tell you, we drove down the one street y'all call the ‘Main’ one and I ain't too impressed so far. Not a single hooker or drunk hobo in sight, and you call this a city? Coulda fuckin' fooled me. Please tell me y'all at least have cable around here."

-

Fucking shit this guy is going to be insufferable to have around. He looks about Karkat’s age, maybe a little younger, and yeah in an ideal world maybe that would mean they could get along but Karkat intends to keep this guy as far away as possible from him.

He’s still in disbelief that these are the guys Kanaya hired. Karkat is totally fucked.

“Our population is less than fifty thousand so we're a town not a city, sorry to disappoint you,” he corrects, but still feels obligated to stand up for this place he’s grown up in. “There’s an arcade and soda fountain you probably passed. We have a bar and liquor store if you’re into that. We have game night here at the bed and breakfast sometimes.” Shit, that’s something Karkat does with his friends here. He just inadvertently invited this human, great. “Look, you’re in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, we’re not exactly known for our nightlife.”

He stops outside the door to their rooms, it wasn’t a far walk.

“We’re here. Is there anything else I can help you with,” he grits out against his will.

-

So far Karkat seems totally un-swayed by the Strider charm. Dave doesn't let it phase him, though, he's not exactly on his A game right now with his stinky pits and flat, greasy hair. It's all good, he'll have plenty of time to charm the shit out of Karkat and the rest of this town over the next few days after he’s had a hot shower and a full night of sleep.

He’s kind of excited to start nosing around tomorrow. Bro usually lets him go off on his own for a while at the start of a job, gives him the vital info and points him toward a couple maybe-leads, but lets Dave do what he does best: wander around poking his nose where it doesn't belong.

Dave tends to have a pretty good gut instinct about talking to people, and he's definitely getting a sense that Karkat is somebody he should try and get to know. Even if the guy doesn't have any secrets of his own, it sounds like he's at least got strong roots in this town, and he probably hears a good deal of the local gossip from working here.

"Damn, well I had to at least ask, right?" He doesn't exactly have the spare cash to spend at the liquor store, but maybe he can bum a couple bucks off Bro to get some beers later. Gotta stay entertained somehow. Actually...

"That game night you mentioned, how do I get in on that? What do you guys do, like, strip Monopoly or something? Oh, or what about strip Candyland? Or are y'all more into that Dragons and Elves and Goblins kinda nerd shit? I can roll with that, I've seen a couple episodes of Star Trek and some of those weird lookin' chicks are fly as hell."

-

 _Nerd shit,_ how nice of him, and to apparently only be okay with it because ‘the girls are hot’ or whatever it is this guy is saying. It strikes Karkat with even more irritation because upon looking at this guy he noticed he’s actually kind of attractive. Too bad he’s probably too annoying to even be around.

Karkat now offers him a tight smile with his lips pressed together. This asshole is absolutely not invited even if he seems around the same age as his friends. Well, at the very least he’ll consider it because when humans are around Vriska can’t cheat with fairy magic.

For now, he proceeds to completely ignore Dave’s question.

“We do have cable, to answer your question. There is a TV in the lounge and a library should you need entertainment. Breakfast starts at 7. If you have any _issues_ ,” Karkat feels the need to emphasize that he doesn’t want to be bothered by him for just anything. “You can likely find one of us at the front desk. Kanaya and I live on the grounds should you have an _emergency_.”

Karkat is in charge of breakfast, every single day when they have guests. He’d bet money that this guy will insult it tomorrow morning.

“Enjoy your stay,” he finishes, saying it like it’s a curse as opposed to any actual well-wishing, and turns back down the hall to head to the front desk.

-

Karkat gives him a totally insincere smile, annoyance written clearly all over his face, and the 'enjoy your stay' he spits out with a sneer is so over-the-top sarcastic that Dave wonders if this guy's ever heard of subtlety in his life. He raises an eyebrow and watches Karkat disappear around the corner before realizing he totally ignored Dave's question about game night. Whatever, Dave'll just have to track him down tomorrow, sounds like he won't be too hard to find.

He hears the jangle of a key ring and turns to see Bro opening the next door down the hall.

"No, dude, our room is this one--" he starts, walking forward, but the key turns and the door opens. Bro steps inside and tosses his bag onto the... single bed?

"That one's yours. This is mine." Bro's shrugging off his coat, hanging it on a hook on the wall. "You get your own room for once, kid, so don't say I never did nothin' for ya."

Dave's jaw drops open in disbelief. He hurries back to the other room--his room?!--and opens the door. It's small and dimly lit, with one small bed, a bookshelf full of odds and ends and a few dime-store paperbacks, and a beat-up writing desk against the wall. It's fucking perfect. There's even a little window over the desk, and Dave walks up to it, peering into the dark forest outside. When he turns back around, Bro's standing in the doorway, the barest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Dave can't hold back his own cheesy grin. "Okay, you got me, Bro. This is pretty fucking cool." He holds out his fist for a bump and Bro returns it, then pulls him in for a rough noogie. Dave yelps and flails until Bro lets him go.

"God, never mind, you still suck! Worst brother of all time," he complains. He doesn't mean it, obviously, Bro's the best, but they can't go getting all mushy on each other either. Shit's gay as hell.

Bro finally leaves him alone and Dave is free to take his long-awaited shower and collapse into bed, only just remembering to set his alarm clock before passing the fuck out.

The next morning he feels more rested and refreshed than he has in ages. He's also fucking starving, so he gets dressed and goes out into the hall. Something smells like bacon and pancakes, and he follows his nose, leading him back toward the lobby where they came in last night. The lobby itself is empty, but there's an open door leading off from it that he didn't notice earlier, so he wanders inside and...

Hell. Fucking. Yes.

There’s whole table of dishes piled high with pancakes and eggs and bacon and sausage and fruit. It smells absolutely mouthwatering so he grabs a plate and eagerly begins shoveling food onto it, wanting to try a bit of everything.

-

Karkat stomps back down the hall to Kanaya at the front desk.

When he sees her he nods aggressively to the manager’s office door right behind the front desk.

Kanaya sighs but stands and follows Karkat into the room, closing the door behind her.

“Those guys are fucking amateurs,” Karkat grits out. “Look, it was an insane idea to start to invite monster hunters to stay here, but they probably couldn’t even tell their ass from their noses. This was the best you could do? I’m fucking screwed.”

Kanaya looks at him for a long moment before she exhales and her shoulders drop. “They actually have quite a successful track record, Karkat. Please give them a shot. I’m not going to argue this with you and you are _not allowed_ to go hunting on your own.”

Karkat knows when a conversation is over. He groans and stomps to his room.

The next day, as always, Karkat wakes up at 5:30, gets ready for the day, and then heads to the kitchen to start making breakfast. They have the two new guests on the docket so he has to make a little bit more today.

He gets pancake batter underway, puts sausage and bacon in a pan, rearranges the fruit bowl and cuts strawberries. He puts jelly and butter in little bowls for the bread toasting station. Kanaya comes to take platters out to the dining area at 7 when they officially start breakfast.

The first people down are the hikers just traveling through to the Canadian border. They’re actually set to leave the next day.

Then it's the businessman who’s coming through to finalize some trade contracts so the town can maintain it’s supply lines. He’s a regular who comes every year.

Kanaya calls Karkat out of the kitchen at some point for more strawberries, which he brings out in a minute.

He notices that the monster hunter, _Dave_ , has already made himself comfortable at a table and is scarfing down food. Well, that’s nice at least. Karkat wasn’t sure when the guy would stop acting like he was turning up his nose about everything with this place. Not that he cares, his goal is to stay far the fuck away from this guy and his only job, though he doesn’t know it, is to prove Karkat’s innocence.

He places the bowl of strawberries on the table and turns to return to the kitchen.

-

Dave's nearly emptied his plate and is evaluating whether to go back for a second stack of pancakes when Karkat walks in with a bowl of strawberries and sets them down.

"Yo, Karkat!" he calls through a mouthful of food before Karkat can leave again. He holds up a finger and swallows down his food, washing it down with a gulp of Sunny D. It's not AJ but it sure beats the hell out of his beverage of choice for the past several days: tap water from the rest stop bathroom sink.

"I just needed to say this food is bomb as hell, dude, would you do me a solid and pass on my compliments to whoever's the breakfast chef around here? Those pancakes especially, goddamn. Do y'all cook like this every morning?"

-

Karkat’s head reflexively turns as he hears his name called, actually pronounced correctly by Dave this time. His eyes widen a little as he hears what Dave is saying.

So he does like the food. That actually… feels pretty fucking nice. People like the food here, but they don’t moan and groan in pleasure like _that_. Karkat actually swells with pride at his reaction.

Kanaya is talking to the hikers but she offers a smile in Karkat’s direction before responding to Dave before Karkat can.

“Karkat is actually responsible for breakfast every morning, Mr. Strider,” she says in a far more respectful manner than Karkat would have responded. She then nods at Karkat in Dave’s direction expectantly. Ugh, he absolutely does not want to have to make nice with this guy, but he huffs and stomps over anyways.

“Yeah, I make the breakfast,” Karkat says, kind of horrified when he realizes he’s actually _blushing_ from Dave’s praise.

“If you have anything else to say about it you can shove it up your ass,” he says quietly to make up for the fact that he’s actually blushing. Hopefully this guy can’t tell. What the fucking hell is wrong with him right now?

-

Awww, is Karkat getting all bashful from Dave's compliment? Isn't that fucking cute, Mr. Grumpypants being all soft and mushy inside his prickly shell.

Dave's mouth quirks up slightly. "What, you don't like getting compliments on your cooking? Would you rather I said the food was terrible? I'm sorry, man, but my hands are tied. I'm duly sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in all food related matters, and the truth of this matter is that these are some of the tastiest pancakes I ever stuffed inside my hungry little mouth."

He leans back in his seat and lets out a long belch to punctuate his statement. Behind Karkat's shoulder, he thinks he can see the owner lady hiding a smile under her long, emerald green fingernails.

-

Karkat wrinkles his nose at the burp. He understands the sentiment behind it, but still… gross. Dave actually seems pretty sincere about it, though. Best pancakes ever feels like a stretch, it’s a tiny bed and breakfast out in rural Washington. No one’s kidding anyone.

Although Karkat has spent years perfecting this recipe… He knows people like it but no one usually talks about it like this.

“Hmph. Thanks. Glad to show you one thing here that, huh, what was it you said? ‘Doesn't totally suck lame balls’? Yeah, that was it.”

Even as nice as Dave is being about his cooking, Karkat still really isn’t a fan of his home being insulted like that.

-

Ah, fuck, is _that_ why Karkat's so determined to hate him? Cause Dave insulted the town? There goes his foot in mouth disease again. It's kind of embarrassingly obvious now that he thinks about it for more than zero seconds, like duh, just because Dave hates Houston doesn't mean everyone else hates their hometown too. Maybe Karkat had an actually good childhood, instead of... what Dave got.

His smile falls away and he quickly pulls on a blank expression. "Ha, yeah, that was my bad, dude. I guess I really shouldn't judge a town before I taste its pancakes. Don't worry though, I've been thoroughly schooled by your cooking, this lesson has been motherfucking _learned_ , breakfast style."

He chugs the last of his OJ and gets up from the table, suddenly feeling awkward. "Well, it's been real but I better go check on my Bro, make sure he doesn't sleep through breakfast. He gets real grumpy when he doesn't eat, he's like a six foot tall infant. Without the diapers, though, thank god. Or the, uh, breast feeding. Ugh, never mind, I'm scratching this metaphor from the record because that's a horrifying mental image, jesus christ. Uh. Right. So I'll catch you later, yeah?"

He hesitates for a moment before offering Karkat a fist bump. It's weird, but his heart is racing all of a sudden, which makes no sense cause it's totally no big deal if Karkat leaves him hanging. He has no reason to care if this guy likes him, right?

-

Karkat watches as the grin on this guy’s face is just completely wiped off as he points out what he said yesterday and raises an eyebrow. It seems like he feels bad about what he said? Yeah, Dave made a pretty bad first impression, and he apparently recognizes it.

Then Karkat observes, growing quickly bewildered, as Dave stands and starts rambling in a way he mostly follows, ending in holding out a fist to him, presumably an action for Karkat to return. He gives him a doubtful look but uncrosses one of his arms to reach out and close the distance, because even if this guy did come off so great at first, Karkat won’t be rude to a guest.

He taps his hand against Dave’s and pulls his hand back, stepping away from the table.

“Considering I live here and am responsible for feeding you every _blessed_ morning, safe to say you will,” Karkat sighs in his usual grumble. Playing on religion is a joke in the magic and creature community, it tends to throw people off the trail.

He can’t believe this guy is a monster hunter. It definitely feels like the wrong gig for him. His brother, on the other hand, fits the bill. Karkat wonders what the deal is there but he doesn’t plan on getting close enough to Dave to find out.

-

From the dubious look on Karkat's face, you'd think Dave was offering him an unmarked bag of pills at a party rather than an innocent bro fist, but he does eventually return the bump. Hell fucking yes.

Dave makes his exit and heads back to Bro's room.

"Yo, wake up, asshole, you're gonna miss breakfast.” He bangs on the door with his fist. “It's fucking delicious, dude, I think I gained like ten pounds already from the pancakes alone."

He keeps up his rambling and knocking until Bro finally opens up with dark circles under his eyes that are visible even behind his shades. A quick glance around the room tells Dave that the bed hasn't been slept in, and the assortment of weaponry laid out on the floor only confirms his suspicions.

"Dude, were you training all night _again_?" He crosses his arms. "I told you to stop doing that shit, it ain't fucking healthy."

"Couldn't sleep," Bro grunts, pulling off his shades and rubbing his eyes. He's still wearing his clothes from yesterday, too. "Thought I might as well be doin' something useful 'stead of just lazin' around."

Dave rolls his eyes. "Whatever, man. Just get your workaholic ass down to the dining room. You're next to useless when you're not properly fed and caffeinated."

Bro sighs with a hint of annoyance but he pulls on his boots and comes out into the hall. He shoulder checks Dave as he leaves, making Dave yelp, and Dave swears he can hear the dude snickering to himself about it. What a dick.

With nothing urgent to do, Dave goes back to his room and spends some time getting unpacked, poking around and inspecting the books on his shelf. He finds some writing supplies in the desk and thinks idly about sending a postcard to Rose, then realizes with excitement that she could actually write him back for once since he's got an address now, at least temporarily.

After a while, Bro shows up again and comes in to finally give Dave some much-needed info about this job. Unfortunately, what little he tells Dave is annoyingly vague and essentially boils down to: "There’s been some werewolf attacks, nobody knows who's doing it and we gotta stop 'em." Not a lot for Dave to go on there, but that's okay, he's done more with a lot less before.

Anyway, the longer this job lasts, the more time he gets to spend here in the land of free pancakes and luxury so he's not exactly unhappy that it might take a little extra time.

Okay, first things first: he needs to find his footing here, get to know this town and what makes it tick, and the most efficient method, he knows, is to get one of the locals to give him a tour.

He barely needs to give the decision a moment's thought before heading out the door to track down Karkat.

-

Breakfast is done by 9:30, by then which Karkat cleans up the kitchen. He has a few various responsibilities on the grounds besides breakfast duty, most of which involve food. Next is that he’s in charge of managing the coffee and tea station in the lounge as well as keeping the kitchen stocked.

Karkat gladly keeps the tea and coffee station stocked because he probably visits it more than anyone, considering most of his time is spent in their library where he consumes all their books one by one.

His friends in town, fellow magic practitioners or creatures in hiding, will sometimes come to visit. The bed and breakfast is something of an activity hub for their kind. Kanaya will regularly hold their town hall in an adjacent building that is basically an oversized conference room. His friends are well acquainted with her as well as how their service is run.

Karkat does often go to town as well, although yeah, Dave had a point. It’s still not the most exciting place to go. Technically he and his friends have outgrown the arcade but they still go anyway. Either way this place is home and he’s part of a community here, and a helpful one at that.

Kanaya runs the main point of stay for human visitors. If they see something they shouldn’t, Kanaya easily has methods of making them forget. It’s only been needed a few times, but Karkat’s had to slip potions into a couple of people’s morning coffee before.

Through the community network, their generally reviled population has managed to live peacefully among humans for many years now.

Still, Karkat has faced some ostracism from his own people that he had managed to conquer, at least up until recently.

Werewolves are rare and mysterious creatures. Karkat had been found by Kanaya as a baby in the forest while she’d been hunting for magic morels as a young witch. It hadn’t been revealed that he was a werewolf until that full moon, but he only turned into a pup then.

His secret couldn’t be kept forever. With time Karkat was granted a section of the nearby forest and mountain areas to safely change under. No one ever wanted to risk being around him when it happened, and Karkat never remembered his changes either. It had frustrated him forever.

So here he is, one of the most disliked magic creatures even among creaturekind, sitting in the B&B lounge library reading... a romance novel.

Is he lonely? Yeah, definitely. But he’s a werewolf and he’s maybe just destined to be alone, discarded by society just like the way he was found.

At least he can live vicariously through the characters in these books, secretly wondering if he’ll ever find a woman… or man… to make him feel the way those characters get to feel. Sometimes he writes it, too, but those journals are kept hidden far away from any potential eyes.

-

Dave heads back to the lobby to see if Karkat's at the front desk like he said he often is, but nobody’s there at the moment.

Maybe the kitchen or the dining room? Nope, no Karkat here.

Hmm… Where does a guy like Karkat hang out? Is there, like, a room for yelling and getting overly offended by innocent remarks? Ha, good one, Dave.

He wanders down a hallway and spots a sign for the library. Huh, Karkat doesn't really seem like the quiet indoor type, but you never know...

He pokes his head through the door and is pleasantly surprised to find Karkat there, sitting in an armchair with his nose buried deep in a book. One of those schlocky romance novels, from the look of it. Dave lets an amused smile ghost over his face for just a moment, before walking over to Karkat and taking the chair closest to him.

"Ahem," he coughs quietly. "Yo, sorry to interrupt you during your down time, but I seem to remember y'all saying you'd be willing to offer us some assistance, and well, wouldn't you know, it just so happens that I'm currently in need of that same proffered commodity."

-

As Karkat flips between the pages, trying to get into this story, he’s interrupted by intrusive thoughts about his situation.

What if he is the werewolf attacking people? How far will he have to go for his next change to avoid being found by the hunters?

What if they find him and kill him, put him down like the monster everyone expects him to be?

No matter how much anyone assured him it’s not true, Karkat still thinks it.

Although Karkat can transform outside of the full moons and remember it, he rarely does unless he’s too pent up and needs a serious run around the forest. Now is feeling like a good time to do it, if only they weren’t hosting _monster hunters_.

If only they knew the irony, invited into the beasts’ den, with the unsuspecting goal of helping the worst beast of all.

Karkat finally manages to get into the book as the romance picks up. The pining from afar, longing gazes, flushing cheeks… He lets himself get swallowed into it, so much so that he's almost blissfully unaware as his next interruption looms.

He looks up with a frown at the intruder and almost wants to groan when he sees that it’s the hunter, who appears to have sought him out for something that must be unfathomably unimportant.

What assistance could this guy possible fucking need? The guests almost never bother him for anything. Well, they do, but this guy seems to like being particularly up in Karkat’s business in particular than others. Unfortunately, Karkat’s job dictates that he help the guest no matter what.

Karkat sighs and pushes himself upright in his chair, placing the book on his lap with both flaps open so he doesn’t lose his spot.

“Alright. What can I do for you,” he asks with absolutely zero inflection.

-

Karkat does _not_ seem enthused to help him, but Dave presses on anyway. Refusing to take a hint is one of his most accomplished social skills and he's proud to be able to put it to good use here.

"Okay, so I know this is gonna be kind of a big ask. A huge one. Like you probably usually get people asking you where the drugstore is or shit like that, something you could answer in five seconds and then get back to reading your steamy books, and I'm about to ask for a lot more of your time than that, but just hear me out, okay?"

He takes a breath and plows ahead before Karkat can interrupt his flow.

"What I really need is for someone to give me a tour around town. Show me the who's who and what's what, as it were. I know it sounds stupid but I swear it's really important and, uh, well... I was kinda hoping maybe you could be my tour guide?"

What the fuck, why are his palms so sweaty?? He wipes them on his jeans, anxiously awaiting Karkat's answer.

-

As Dave speaks, Karkat narrows his eyes, rolls them at the steamy comment, and then turns his gaze to a glare.

Bewilderingly, Dave suddenly started to smell like… anxiety? Karkat’s sense of scent is so fine tuned he could probably offer his services up to the sheriff’s department as a living lie detector, if the actual sheriff weren’t a human with a non-human deputy acting right under his nose.

Anyways, there’s no denying it, Dave smells nervous.

Karkat’s going to disregard that for now.

Steamy books? Really? Karkat can’t help but feel like he’s being made fun of.

The point seems to be that Dave wants Karkat to show him around town.

“Okay, well, besides the fact that you insulted my choice of reading material, let’s examine the issue of ‘why the fuck should I.’” He pauses and stares back at Dave. “Go on, give me at least one good reason. I’m listening.”

Also… why Karkat of all people?!

-

"I did _not_ the fuck insult your literature, dude, I'm just spouting true facts right now. Like I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover and all, but I can speculate with over a thousand percent certainty that 'steamy' is exactly the descriptor this author was going for. Look at that absolutely ripped shirtless dude mackin' on his lady there, I mean, if that don't boil your biscuits, I don't know what will. This is clearly the literary version of a Playboy centerfold and that's basically the highest compliment I could ever give to a book, so how about you calm the fuck down for a fresh second."

Okay, going on a huge rant about how horny this book is _might_ not have been the best tactic. What is it about this dude that's making Dave even more prone to saying the wrong thing than usual? Normally he's sort of charmingly obnoxious in an aloof, cool kind of way, but right now he just feels like a grade-A dweeb.

And Karkat's got a good point, too. What can Dave possibly offer him in exchange for this favor? He considers saying it's for the safety of the town, important hunter business, yada yada, but he's not sure how much, if anything, Karkat actually knows about why he and Bro are in town, or what they do for work. Their clients tend to be pretty big on the whole confidentiality thing so Dave decides to keep his mouth shut for once.

He wracks his brain for something else to say that might convince Karkat, but comes up short. Unfortunately his mouth doesn't get the message and words just start spilling out of him without his permission.

"Fuck, you're right, I mean obviously you don't have any reason to want to help me out. You've got some beef with me and I don't blame you, I know I have a habit of sticking my foot in it, and I definitely stuck it in with you--stuck my foot in my mouth, I mean. Not--whatever, uh. I guess I just thought you seemed like a cool guy, and, like, I don't really know anybody around here? Or anywhere, really, we're on the road so fucking much that most of the time I barely get a chance to say 'hi my name's Da--' before Bro's dragging me back into the truck and onto the next job. And since we might be here for a while, I thought it could be cool to check off the Normal Person Friendship box on my bucket list and chill out with a bro who isn't my actual Bro as in brother, for once."

Wow, way to sound fucking pathetic. Karkat's definitely going to think he's a loser now, assuming he didn't already. Dave's cheeks burn and he reminds himself again that he doesn't give a shit what Karkat thinks. _This is just for the job._ ...Isn't it?

-

Karkat’s eyebrows raise up and up as Dave continues to ramble, before coming down with confusion. Okay, maybe Dave hadn’t been trying to insult him. Karkat probably shouldn’t have just jumped on that, it's just a sensitive issue with him. It was bad enough when he was given a hard time for being a werewolf when he was younger, coming out when he was older was just fuel to the fire.

Reading romance wasn’t manly enough or whatever and some people in town took offense to that. His friends shut a lot of that shit down, but it still happened now and then.

Karkat is also really fucking thankful for his friends and wonders all the time why he has any.

When Karkat doesn’t immediately answer, Dave continues to talk and Karkat’s bewilderment only increases.

The nervousness pouring off of him is only growing in Karkat’s awareness. He actually seems kind of worked up about this.

Alright, so Dave clearly feels bad about insulting the town earlier. Karkat decides he’ll let him off the hook for that. He then calls Karkat a cool guy, which is completely wrong but that’s… kind of nice to hear? It actually seems kind of genuine, and Karkat has no clue how to respond to that.

Then Dave talks about friends, and that’s when Karkat realizes it. Dave is a monster hunter by profession, traveling from city to city. It probably isn’t easy for him to make or keep friends at all. It’s not exactly a job most people fall into and it’s a grueling sort of work that only a certain kind of person does. Dave definitely doesn’t seem like that kind of person.

He’s also clearly communicating with some agony that he doesn’t know anyone here or maybe anywhere, and if Karkat was holding anything against him, he immediately lets go of it as pity fills him.

Whatever Dave’s existence is…. It must be lonely.

Like Karkat’s, just a different facet of the same shit diamond.

The irritation falls off his face and is replaced by a softed expression. Even as much as he doesn’t want to, Karkat can’t help it as he finds himself filled with understanding for the hunter. Unfortunately, what comes out of his mouth is still the same stuff that always comes out of his mouth.

“I’m going to disregard the ‘cool guy’ comment because false flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere around here, but believe it or not I actually take this hospitality shit seriously so yeah, all you had to do was say you wanted to hang out and I’d be there. I’d be fucking honored to call you a friend.” Karkat stands up and tosses the book on the table beside him. He’ll come back for it later. “Are you free now? I know someone who works around this time at the soda parlor, pretty sure they could do me a solid and you something on the house.”

-

Wait. That... worked? Dave hesitates, not sure if he's just being made fun of, because seriously _how fucking uncool was he just now_?

He's just glad Bro wasn't here to see him all but whip out his secret diary of insecure thoughts and read them out loud to Karkat in a tearful voice. Not that Dave actually has any such diary, he's not _that_ pathetic, okay, but--whatever, that's not the point. The point is that Karkat doesn't take back his offer or mock him or call him a queer or anything. He just stands there waiting for an answer, looking at Dave with a mixture of annoyance and... something else Dave can't quite place.

It's a subtle difference from before, but Dave thinks he's beginning to understand that this is just how Karkat operates, with his grouchy meter permanently cranked up to 100. He even said he'd be _honored_ to call Dave a friend, which sounds fucking fake but whatever, Dave's not gonna question it for now.

He stands up and fights a smile off his face with some effort. "Hell fuckin' yeah, dude, you know it, I'm always available to hang out when free food or drinks are involved. Just so long as they don't serve pancakes, though, cause those bad boys you cooked up this morning have unequivocally ruined me for all other pancakes for the rest of my entire measly existence."

Okay, maybe he's laying it on a little thick right now, but he's just so relieved that Karkat doesn't seem to hate him, he feels almost giddy about it. Also he keeps thinking about earlier, when Karkat had blushed after Dave complimented his cooking, and he kind of wants to see if it'll happen again.

-

Karkat finds that he also relaxes as Dave’s scent eases up on that strongly anxious overtone. He actually smells pretty nice without it. Karkat has always struggled with describing his scent sensory input, but Dave’s scent is just… just _nice_. Like a hug from an old friend, or the feeling of getting lost in a really good story, or the calm of the forest in the early morning, It’s an embrace without physically being embraced.

Maybe a little bit sad, too.

Karkat doesn’t typically feel this way about most people’s scents. It’s easy for him to conflate character with what is just what someone smells like. Sometimes someone smells ‘bad’ to him, but it doesn’t mean they are a bad person.

Usually.

Most of the time.

The point is, Dave smells nice and maybe like sadness. Nothing that would make Karkat uneasy is coming off him. Karkat’s always so on guard all the time, being who and what he is, it honestly makes him want to let the walls down a little.

Which is fucking bizarre. What is it about this monster hunter that’s making Karkat feel this way? This is the last guy on earth who should be making him feel _relaxed_.

Especially one that is so…. objectively attractive.

Karkat snorts and fights back a prideful smile, a familiar heat along the back of his neck rising. “Okay, what did we just fucking say about flattery getting you nowhere? If you really like them that much, I can just show you how to make them sometime, I guess you’re probably going to be here for a while…” Okay, Karkat doesn’t want to think about that part right now. He starts walking towards the front desk so he can tell Kanaya what he’s doing. “Uh, I don’t make them every morning, I was actually planning to make French toast tomorrow. Although since I’m going out now I might not have time to make the bread, you might be in luck for more tomorrow.”

They pass through the front desk area, Kanaya is leaned back in a chair reading.

“Hey,” Karkat says to get her attention.

Kanaya looks up slowly, offering what seems to be a surprised expression as she sees the both of them together. “Hello, anything I can help with?”

Karkat can’t forget to ask her why she seems so keen on the two of them knowing each other. Her brand of witchcraft practice doesn’t typically involve any manner of visions or fortune telling, but she had assured him multiple times when she first offered to hire the monster hunters that it was the most fortuitous path of action.

He still thinks this idea is fucking crazy.

“I was just going to give our visitor a tour of town. Do you need me for the next few hours?” He can’t decide if he desperately wants her to say yes or no.

Kanaya leans back again, feigning disinterest, but Karkat can still see a glimmer of amusement. The fuck is she up to?

“Oh it is no problem, I have it more than handled, dear. You go on ahead.”

Karkat huffs and nods at Dave towards the door, walking to and then pushing it open.

“It’s about half a mile into town. Hope you like seeing trees because that’s all you’re gonna get for a few.”

**Author's Note:**

> Karkat: [carnivorousBelvedere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/carnivorousBelvedere)  
> Dave: [AllDaveKat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllDaveKat)
> 
> this fic is being written as a live roleplay in the [strilonde rp jamz discord server](https://discord.gg/y2b9Eu2)! (18+)


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